


Light in the Darkness

by hmmmaybenot



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Attempt at Humor, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, M/M, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-01-23 00:48:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12494660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hmmmaybenot/pseuds/hmmmaybenot
Summary: Furihata Kouki never expected his life at Hogwarts to be special. Ordinary was more than fine, as long as it was peaceful. Well, maybe sorted to the same house as his childhood friends, Fukuda and Kawahara, and got a few more friends along the way would be good too; one could only hope.When The Sorting Hat announced that he was a Slytherin, it should have been the first warning that his life would be nothing like what he expected it to be. He really didn’t know how to feel about that.Harry Potter AU. Eventual AkaFuri. Title was a song by Amarante.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [YEHFICSMAN](https://archiveofourown.org/users/YEHFICSMAN/gifts).



> Hello! [andthenifound5dollars](http://andthenifound5dollars.tumblr.com/) from tumblr here. This is my very first attempt at writing a multi chapter story. Special thanks to [breedafool](http://breedafool.tumblr.com/) for looking this over for me (and for encouraging me to actually write this really). Also, since this is a Harry Potter AU, it would be good if you’re familiar with the book/movie before reading this. Just the general knowledge of the original story is enough.. I think. Tbh though, it's been a while since the last time I read/watched anything Harry Potter, so there might be some inaccuracies (forgive me for that). Let me know what you think about this!

_What was The Sorting Hat thinking?_

Furihata sighed. It had been ten minutes since it was decided that he was going to be part of Slytherin house for the next seven years of his life, and he was still not sure how that happened. He was a Slytherin. _A Slytherin_. It was still so surreal.

He watched as the queue of students started to get shorter, while students who were already placed to their respective house sat one by one on the long dinner table. He, as pathetic as it sounded, still kind of expected the decision of him being a Slytherin would be corrected. He knew it was impossible though.

It wasn’t that he was against Slytherin’s principles or hated the house in particular, it was just... How should he say it? From what he heard, Slytherin house was the very definition of _holier than thou, pride is everything, pure-blood is the best_ , and by Merlin, that was so not him... Except, for maybe the last part. He was a pure-blood alright, but still..

Furihata sighed again. Ah well, if he ended up being a Slytherin failure, at least it wouldn’t be his fault. Salazar Slytherin-sama didn’t have the right to blame him. He could come back from the dead and butcher The Sorting Hat for sorting him in Slytherin for all he cared, but he refused to be blamed, okay. Just... No.

He looked at the variety of food in front him. Normally it would make him excited to see this much food, ready to be eaten for free (he rarely got such luxury in the orphanage), but with the knowledge that he was a Slytherin…

_Stop thinking like this, Kouki, and look at the bright side._

He mentally scolded himself. He couldn’t have this mindset for the next seven years, for it would be most miserable. Endo-san, the caretaker of his orphanage, use to tell him that looking at the bright side of things that troubled him would make him feel better. So he should do just that.

Well, he liked the color green, and now that he was a Slytherin, his life would be filled with so much green. Good. It was a nice start. Moving on to the next bright side…

…

_Which is... what?_

Furihata gave up. The green thing would be enough for now. He nodded to convince himself; it was going to be alright and he could settle, eventually.

Deciding that it was enough musing, he returned his focus to the food in front him. He took the omurice (naturally, because it was the best food ever, period) and started to eat it. It tasted delicious. He smiled to himself and eagerly took another bite.

He looked around the dining hall, taking in all the beauty of the room. From the floating candles above him and the.. non-existent roof (it was the sky, wasn’t it?) above the floating candles, to the graceful form of all the sensei in front, to the students who chatted with each other happily that gave off the cheery atmosphere. He continued observing each dining table. Everyone that sat there, excluding the first years, were wearing an outfit with their respective house color. He thought it was beautiful. His eyes strayed to the table full of yellow. He spotted Fukuda and Kawahara there. It looked like they were in the middle of a very interesting conversation with a couple of other students.

How lucky.

Both his friends were sorted to the same house, and it seemed they already made friends. Plural. More than one. Awesome, wasn’t it?

Now, he felt sad again. Friends, huh? He almost forgot about that. What was he going to do about them?

“Hey, is the omurice good?”

The sudden question made Furihata jump a little. He turned to his right and came face to face with a source that asked it. A raven-haired boy. The boy grinned at him and Furihata immediately had the feeling that grinning was probably his default expression. He seemed like a cheerful type.

“It’s... good,” Furihata said hesitantly.

The boy stared at him for a full three seconds before he laughed, “Why did you sound unsure?”

Furihata smiled sheepishly, “Ah, um, sorry. I just wasn’t sure if you are actually talking to me.”

The boy grinned again, “Oh, I’m talking to you alright.”

Furihata was silent for a moment before he answered, more firmly this time, “I... see. Then to answer your question, I think this omurice tasted delicious.”

The boy’s face lit up at that, “Great, I’ll eat that as well then,” he then took the omurice and started eating it. After a while, he asked another question, “What’s your name?”

“Furihata Kouki,” Furihata said simply.

“Furi, is it? Name’s Takao Kazunari. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

They looked at each other, before Furihata decided that Takao didn’t need anything from him anymore. As he was about to resume his eating, Takao spoke again,

“Let’s be friends.”

This, he didn’t expect.

“Fr-friends? You wanna be my friend? Wha- why?”

Takao just chuckled, “Because you’re the only one in my vicinity who doesn’t look like a potential criminal.”

Furihata stared at him in disbelieve, “That’s... a bit rude.”

Takao raised his eyebrows at that.

Seeing Takao’s expression, Furihata couldn’t help but start to chuckle too, “Okay, maybe you got a point.”

And then, they both laughed.

For the first time since he was announced as a Slytherin (which was like fifteen minutes ago, he was always a bit dramatic), Furihata felt some sort of happiness. A genuine one.

Takao then told him that he too, felt intimidated by the fact that he was a Slytherin. And although he was absolutely sure that no one would be a criminal in the future (he was a very positive person), it still didn’t change the fact that the vibe he was gotten from Slytherin in general was not really the most pleasant. Must be because the house’s reputation, he said.

Furihata smiled when Takao offered his hand, to make the friendship official. He took and shook it, maybe a bit too eagerly, but who cared? He was so happy to be able to make a new friend.

So, Furihata Kouki: one friend acquired, at the first day of his first school year.

Not bad. Not bad at all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Thanks for all the feedbacks for chapter one, I'm very grateful. Here's chapter two, special thanks to the awesome [breedafool](http://breedafool.tumblr.com/), for looking this over for me, again (I really wanted to start calling her breedabest, not sure if she would let me lol). Anyway, happy reading!

“Uwaaah, Charms and Potions were harsh.”

Takao placed his face on the dinner table, whining loudly. He and Furihata just finished their classes for the day and were now waiting for dinner to be served.

“Monday truly is the worst day of the week, and to think it was only the second day of school.. ugh, I wanna go home already,” Takao complained again. Furihata gave him a sympathetic look. He understood that feeling.

The Charms class was their first morning class and needless to say, it was a disaster. Furihata was caught sleeping, and Slytherin got one point deduction because of that. Was it his fault that the class began at eight, and he couldn’t sleep the night before? Well it was, but then again, he was never a morning person to begin with.

Takao didn’t do any better. He was asked about the name of the charm to make an object fly, and instead of providing a proper answer (whether it was right or wrong) or just simply said “I don’t know”, like any normal person, he chose to comment, “The name doesn’t matter, but it sounds like one hell of a charm,” which earned him snickers from the entire class, including Tsuchida-sensei, the Charms professor, himself. He did get a point for this embarrassing answer though. Tsuchida-sensei was kind enough to label it as “creative” (after he told Takao that yes, the name of the charm does matter, of course).

So they got a total point of.. zero, from Charms.

The Potions class was held at four in the afternoon, and Furihata thought it just couldn’t get any worse. And he almost believed it, after he got five points for answering the correct temperature that was needed to make their potion of the day (it was pure luck though, Endo-san once told him specifically about that when she was making the same potion, and he somehow still remember). But then, Takao completely wiped out his achievement by going the same route when he was asked the name of a lucky potion (for a pop quiz), saying, “It must be one hell of a potion,” the entire class cringed this time, and Hyuuga-sensei, the Potions professor, was not impressed. Slytherin’s points were deducted by five because of, as Hyuuga-sensei said it, “a poor attempt at being clever.”

So Furihata and Takao got a total point of.. zero from Potions.

Most impressive. Salazar Slytherin-sama would be proud.. not.

Is it going to be like this from now on? Furihata thought, he and Takao would be covering each other mistakes (in the most literal sense) and they would contribute a total point of zero for Slytherin by the end of their seventh year?

Furihata smiled to himself, that doesn’t sound so bad? He was about to suggest they form a duo called “The Du0” (with zero replacing the O) to lift his friend’s spirit, when said friend beat him to it,

“Shin-chan’s amazing though.”

“Shin-chan?” Furihata knitted his eyebrows together. _Who’s that?_

“Midorima Shintarou, the one with green hair,” Takao said.

Ah, him. Furihata remembered him, yeah. Gryffindor. Smart. If he wasn’t mistaken, Midorima alone must won at least 50 points for Gryffindor today.

“You know him?”

“We are neighbors.”

Furihata smiled good naturedly, “It seems that you two are close.”

The dinner was now served and Takao eagerly took a french fry and bit into it, “Nah, I only called him that because that’s how he is called in his family.”

Furihata chuckled at that. That was adorable.

Takao took another french fry, “He hates the name though, I swear I could hear his glasses crack every time someone calls him 'Shin-chan'... maybe you should try too, Furi.”

Furihata frowned at the suggestion, “Uh.. no, thanks.”

Takao just shrugged. Decided that he now wanted a burger instead, he took one from the plate directly in front him and started unwrapping it, “I had a feeling the one with red hair—or is it pink?—is even more brilliant than Shin-chan though. He just has this.. aura that screams high intelligence.”

Furihata looked thoughtful, “I think the correct color is magenta. But yeah, I agree with you.”

Furihata remembered the magenta-haired boy as well. His name was Akashi, and he was also a Gryffindor (it looked like he and Midorima were friends). He was the fastest one who could perform their charm of the day correctly, and the only one who managed to make the potion perfectly (Hyuuga-sensei was very impressed). It seemed that he was indeed a genius.

He was also.. beautiful.

Furihata blushed slightly at the thought. He decided to focus on eating his noodles, to distract himself from an image of a.. beautiful, magenta-haired genius.

_Stop thinking about him like that, Kouki._

Damn right he should. There’s no way someone as perfect and majestic as Akashi would want anything to do with a peasant like him (he really did like to hyperbole everything). That would be disgraceful.

“Is it just me or does Gryffindor has a very colorful bunch of first years? Bright yellow, green, dark blue, purple, magenta and I swear I spotted someone with light blue hair.. not sure though,” Takao said suddenly, while continuously munching his second burger.

Furihata just nodded, “Yeah, the whole thing is kind of weird. I wonder if it was their natural hair color?”

Takao shrugged again, “Dunno. But I bet the collection of my chocolate frog cards, that they would be called ‘rainbow’ or some sort at one point in the near future.

Furihata laughed at that, “We’ll see about that.”

They finished dinner, and soon enough found themselves in the long hallway leading to The Slytherin common room. Takao was so pumped about the flying class on Friday and he just couldn’t stop talking about it the entire walk. Seeing Takao like that, Furihata couldn’t help but feeling excited too. The two were so absorbed in their conversation, they failed to notice another presence on their path who was heading towards the opposite direction.

  


* * *

  


“Is it really him?” Hyuuga questioned, inclined his head slightly to the direction of two boys he just passed. Walking beside him was his colleague, who happened to be the principal of Hogwarts.

“Yes,” Aida said simply, “why?”

“I taught him for the first time this afternoon, he seemed like a nice kid.”

Aida was silent for a moment before answering, “He is. Endo told me as much.”

Hyuuga continued, “Is he aware of his.. condition?”

“Yes, to a certain degree. He doesn’t know about the most important part though, I specifically told Endo to not tell him that, for now..” Aida paused, “I don’t want to risk it.”

Hyuuga thought about that, it seemed that it was indeed the best course of action, all things considered.

They continued to walk and when they about to turn around the corner, Aida spoke again.

“You haven’t told anybody, have you?”

Hyuuga only nodded, “Of course.”

“Not even Shun?”

At this, he couldn’t help but chuckle, “Shun might be, as you called it, ‘the Ron to my Harry’ but I’m not the type to break a promise, Riko.”

Aida smiled slightly, “Good, let’s just keep this between the four of us for now.”

Hyuuga thought he might hear that wrong, “Four? Don’t you mean five?”

Aida glanced at him from the corner of her eyes before answering, “Mayuzumi didn’t count.”

Soon enough Aida reached her destination and she stop at the front door of her office. Unsurprisingly, Hyuuga also stopped, a frown on his face.

“May I know why he didn’t count?”

Aida turned to him and faced him properly this time,

“Mayuzumi wasn’t really himself when he told me.. things”

Hyuuga looked shocked. This was a new information, “You mean.. he didn’t remember anything he told you?”

“That’s what I said, yeah.. there’s a possibility that he remembered pieces of the information but as of now, I’m positive he is not aware of anything.”

Hyuuga run his fingers through his hair, processing everything. He tried to remember what he knows about Mayuzumi. After a while, a fond smile appeared on his face when a particular memory started playing on his mind.

“Even if he did remember, it’s going to be fine.”

Aida raised his eyebrows at this statement, “How’s so? This is a serious matter, Junpei,” she pointed out, “we can’t let just anyone know about this, and as far as I know, Mayuzumi is-”

“I was his teacher as well as his advisor for seven years,” Hyuuga interrupted the principal, and looked at her thoughtfully, “he might look like he never gives a damn, but he actually cares a lot, just so you know.”

Aida seemed to consider what she just heard and smiled slightly. It was a good thing if it was true. Deciding that was enough of a conversation for the night, she bid her colleague a good night and proceeded to go to her office.

  


* * *

  


Against all odds, Friday did come. After struggling to transform a plate to a glass in the Transfiguration class (Takao failed to transform a plate to anything while Furihata only managed to transform his plate to a bowl) in the morning, the Slytherin duo went to their long awaited flying class with a wide smile on their faces. _Finally_.

They arrived at one of the fields near the greenhouse where they had their Herbology class the day before. Some students were already gathered there. After waiting for about ten minutes, a beautiful lady with blonde hair and red glasses was seen walking towards the field, she held a long box, presumably a broomstick carrier.

She stopped a couple of meters from the group of students and cleared her throat loudly. She got her students’ attention immediately.

“Good afternoon, I’m Alexandra Garcia, your flying teacher. I hope you all are well?”

The students replied at once, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good, I hope it really is truth because flying required the great amount of stamina, especially for a newbie,” she smirked, “since you said you all are well, I’d make sure you all are going to fly today, there’s no turning back now,” she ended her introduction with a wink.

Furihata was nervous after hearing that, his excitement started to disappear. He was never good at physical activity and he could see that he was not the only one. But it seemed that no one had any complaints so, he wasn't about to make one.

Alex-sensei then proceeded to explain the basic rule of flying with a broomstick as well as the basic technique to do it properly. She then opened the box she was carrying previously, took out the broomstick, and gave it to one of the student in front of her. She took another broomstick from the box and gave it to another student. She did the same thing again and again and Furihata realized the box seemed to carry infinite broomsticks. He was fascinated. He wondered what kind of spell was casted to the box when Takao nudged him,

“Furi, it’s your turn.”

Furihata snapped from his daze and walked towards Alex-sensei a bit hastily. He received his broomstick and an enthusiastic ‘good luck’ from the teacher.

After everyone got their broomstick, Alex-sensei split them into groups of five. The first group was from Gryffindor and they were..

“The rainbowheads,” Takao whispered, finishing Furihata’s thought for him.

Furihata watched as Alex-sensei blew the whistle and the rainbowheads (Takao’s word, not his) flew.. without much difficulty.

In fact all of their moves seemed graceful, flawless. Was flying not that difficult after all? He watched the one with bright yellow hair—Kise, he believed his name was—actually did some sort of acrobatic moves in the air. It was impressive. His eyes darted to… Akashi (Furihata swore it wasn’t intentional) and now he couldn’t take his eyes off of him. Akashi’s flying was truly the most beautiful sight. He could watch it forever and would never get bored. Unfortunately, Alex-sensei blew the whistle again, signaling that the first group’s time in the air was up. The rainbowheads proceeded to land smoothly one by one.

“That was.. okay I’m not gonna lie, I think I just found some miracles this year. I really thought Kiyoshi and The Gang last year were some kind of phenomenon but you guys, wow I mean..” Alex-sensei just shook her head, ignoring the confused look from her students, “you guys are from Gryffindor, huh? Izuki is going to be ecstatic.”

After her confusing declaration, Alex-sensei resumed the lesson. It turned out that flying was far from easy. Many students, including Furihata, failed to fly more than two meters up in the air (Takao did better this time, he managed to fly up to five meters before he lost his balance and fell ungracefully). Many frustrating groans were heard throughout the field, but no one was seriously hurt as Alex-sensei already casted a spell to the ground so it would be bouncy when someone did fell from their broomstick.

The lesson ended some time before dinner, and Furihata never felt more grateful.

“That was fun,” Takao commented cheerfully as he and Furihata were walking towards the dining hall.

“Very,” Furihata replied sarcastically.

Takao laughed, “Aww come on Furi, it wasn’t that bad.”

Furihata just rolled his eyes. Takao didn’t know how it felt to fall flat on the butt repeatedly, so of course it wasn’t that bad _for him_. Oh well, at least Furihata managed to see Akashi’s graceful flying form today. He was secretly thankful for that.

  


* * *

  


As the day passed, Furihata found himself started admiring Akashi more and more. Like, how could you not?

Friday afternoon became his favorite day, not because he secretly enjoyed falling from his broomstick over and over again (he was not a masochist, okay), but because for some reason, the sight of Akashi’s flying was making him happy. He thought it was ridiculous but at the end of the day, he really didn’t care.

Until one Friday at the end of November, his favorite sight was taken from him. Alex-sensei informed the class that Akashi, along with his fellow rainbowheads (Furihata was officially calling them that now) were no longer be taking the class. Izuki-sensei, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, as well as The Head of Gryffindor House, was assigning the group to a special flying lesson instead, preparing them for Quidditch.

It was considered rare for a first year to be able to play Quidditch. There’s been a few exceptions throughout the years, including the famous wizard, Harry Potter, and just a year previously, five of Slytherin students called ‘Kiyoshi and the Gang’ (origin of the name unknown). And now, the rainbowheads joined the exceptions. Alex-sensei said, Izuki-sensei already had a name for the group that would be revealed at their first Quidditch match.

Furihata’s face fell after hearing this information.

_Look at the bright side, Kouki._

And so he did. First of all, he should be proud and happy for Akashi; it was a great achievement. Not that Furihata was surprised or anything but still, it was great. Second, the sight of Akashi playing Quidditch would be glorious, so he could start looking forward to it. He was never a fan of any sports (Quidditch included) but with Akashi involved, he was sure it would be fun.

Furihata nodded to himself and when he was about to get ready to fly, Takao nudged him playfully.

“Why the long face, Furi?” Takao asked, “Is it about the bland omurice we ate this morning? I knew we should talk about this earlier, but I was afraid you would be upset, if I reminded you about that,”

Takao smirked and Furihata stared at his friend, speechless.

And then, they both laughed.

It was always like this, Takao and him. Ever since the first time Takao offered him a friendship, laughing about the silliest and the most absurd things was becoming a frequent occurrences. Having Takao as his friend was one of the best thing that ever happened to Furihata, and he swore he would never ever trade it to anything else.

They recovered quickly, and Furihata replied, “I was upset, alright. Was the cook having a bad day or what? And don’t tell me it was probably because they ran out of salt, for it's the most impossible thing.”

Takao laughed again, “Oh yeah, why is it impossible?”

“Wizards don’t run out of salt, Takao,” Furihata was the one who smirked this time.

Takao nodded approvingly, “Fair point.”

Furihata grinned, as he was about to resume his previous task of getting ready to fly, Takao spoke again,

“I’m sorry about Akashi though, Furi. For now, I hope you could enjoy my graceful flying form instead.”

Before Furihata could respond, Takao flew first, leaving him flustered on the ground.

He never wanted to throw a hard object to a flying man as much as he did now.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 is here! Special thanks to the awesome [breedafool](http://breedafool.tumblr.com/) for looking this over for me, again. Btw, I'm so sorry for the lack of akafuri (or Akashi really) so far, but I promise Akashi and Furi will have their first interaction soon! This one's a bit short but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

“Furi, Akashi’s here.”

Furihata rolled his eyes, again, for the third time today. He couldn’t believe he also needed to deal with this when he was working on his homework. Takao really had no tact whatsoever, though, he did steal a glance at Akashi who was just entering the library with Midorima.

Ever since that last flying class when Takao found out about his.. crush (Furihata finally admitted that was what he felt) towards Akashi; he’s been receiving constant teasing for it from his best friend. Seriously, like 24/7. Takao would tell him whenever he spotted Akashi and gave him a talk about how Furihata should ‘man up’ and say hello to him. He was talking about Akashi so much it almost looked like he was actually the one who had an obsession towards the Gryffindor genius; not like Furihata was obsessed with Akashi or anything.

Furihata was trying to play it cool, telling Takao that he was fine just admiring Akashi from afar and didn’t plan to change that situation for now. However, Takao didn’t listen. At all. And frankly, it became really irritating real fast.

And now, again, at the library, when he was supposed to be working on his Astronomy assignment with full concentration, Takao disturbed him.

“Yes, I can see that. I have a crush on him remember? Of course I am aware when he is near,” Furihata said, annoyance clear in his voice.

“Ohoo, freely admitting it now, aren’t you? I’m so proud of you, Furi,” Takao grinned and slapped his friend’s shoulder. Furihata winced.

“Thank you. Now, could you please stop doing these things?” Furihata almost pleaded, “your constant update about Akashi’s location is no longer needed.”

“Not until you say hello to him.”

Furihata sighed in frustration, Astronomy homework now forgotten, he faced Takao properly and hoped that the next thing he was about to say—which he already said a million times before—would finally get to the raven-haired boy’s head and stay there forever.

“For the last time, Takao,” he said slowly, putting emphasis to each word, “I am fine with how things are right now, and I already decided that I’m not gonna randomly say hello to Akashi or suddenly make a move to be close to him. So please, _please_ , for the love of Merlin. Stop. I just want a peaceful life, man.”

Takao looked like he was about to argue but seemed to consider it at the last moment. He sighed,

“Fine! But I won’t forget this. When the right time comes, I’ll remind you again.”

Furihata frowned. Why was Takao so insistent?

“Why do you care so much about this?”

Takao just shrugged, “Because everything concerning Akashi seemed to make you happy, and I like seeing you happy.”

Furihata was stunned at this declaration. Takao just said something like that so casually, and he didn’t know what to say. A warm sensation started to spread across his chest.

He was grateful.

Furihata looked at Takao and smiled. He needed to express his gratitude alright. He was about to say thank you to his friend, when the said friend interrupted him,

“Now, can I see your homework? I’m stuck and I need some… inspiration.”

Furihata was silent for a moment and… facepalmed. Of course such a heartfelt moment with Takao would have this kind of ending. He should have known better. He shook his head and shifted his parchment out of Takao’s reach.

“No.”

Ignoring his friend’s pouting, Furihata resumed his work.

  


* * *

  


“Man, I’m so exhausted,” Takao sighed dramatically, wiping imaginary sweat from his forehead (it was cold so there was no way he produced sweat). Furihata who was walking beside him just chuckled.

“Just a bit more, Takao. We can do it!” Furihata cheered. He patted his friend’s back as well, for good measure.

It was Monday afternoon, a week before the start of winter break, as well as Christmas holiday. Furihata and Takao just finished their lunch, and now on their way to library to start working on their Herbology assignment that's due the next day. The Slytherin duo were practically dragging their feet to do another school stuff with their last bit of energy.

“You’re right, just one more week and all of this would be over,” Takao nodded, trying to be cheerful.

Furihata scoffed, “For a while.”

Takao shrugged, “A while is all I need. I can’t wait to start hibernating at home.”

Furihata laughed lightly. He was about to comment how it was such a shame to just spend a long holiday by sleeping when he felt something solid hit his left shoulder from behind.

Or rather, someone.

Furihata yelped. He almost lost his balance and would’ve fallen to the floor if Takao hadn't caught him at the last moment. Some guy just run towards the direction of the library and bumped into him, hard. But instead of stopping and apologizing, the guy just continued to run, seemed to get even faster with each step he took. Furihata saw the guy turn his face slightly to the side and caught a glimpse of his face. He knew this guy.

“OI!” Takao shouted furiously, trying to call the guy who had already turned left to the corner before the library and disappear. He was about to go after him, probably to teach him some manners, but stopped when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Hey,” called someone with a rough voice.

Takao and Furihata turned around at the sound and came face to face with a red-haired boy who seemed to be out of breath. He wore a Gryffindor attire and was tall. And what the hell happened to his eyebrows?

“Have you seen Tatsuya?” the boy asked. He looked like he was in a hurry.

Takao frowned, “Tatsuya?”

“Black hair, slightly taller than you,” the boy added some description impatiently, “he should be around here...” he muttered under his breath.

Hearing that, Takao’s eyes slowly widened in realization,

“Oh him! Yeah, I saw him! He ran towards-”

“The greenhouse... there,” Furihata interrupted suddenly, pointing his thumb to his right side where the greenhouse located, across the field.

The boy nodded his head with a quick thank you before he was off, running with unbelievable speed to the direction of the greenhouse.

Takao and Furihata just stood there, in the middle of the long hallway, trying to process everything that just happened.

“Why did you lie, Furi?” Takao asked, confused.

“Because Himuro-kun seemed to be in distress when he bumped into me earlier,” Furihata answered calmly, “I’m sure the source of his distress has something to do with that person with weird eyebrows. So naturally, I’m kind of just... yeah, you know what I mean?”

Takao looked surprised, “Wait, hold on… Himuro? That rude guy who bumped into you earlier was Himuro?”

Furihata nodded.

Himuro Tatsuya. Slytherin. First year. Pretty smart but quiet. His left eye was always covered by his long bangs, it triggered the gossip among the Slytherin first years, that maybe his left eye was cursed. The kind of curse that made someone turned to stone if they ever managed to look at it… or something.

It was ridiculous.

Takao raised his eyebrows, “What if Himuro is the villain here? You might have just let a criminal escaped the justice that was placed upon him.”

Furihata just shrugged, “My gut is telling me to help a Slytherin friend rather than someone from Gryffindor who I know nothing about.”

Hearing that, Takao slowly smirked, “Right, of course… but what if it was someone from Gryffindor _who you know everything about_ that looked for _a Slytherin friend_ , who would you rather help?”

Furihata just rolled his eyes at that remark and ignored it. He then proceeded to walk towards the library, the place he should be at in the first place, leaving his still smirking friend behind.

  


* * *

  


Furihata was halfway through his Herbology assignment when he saw Himuro entered the library. His shoulder slumped and his face very pale. He sat at the chair closest to the entrance and put his face on the table in front of him. He then started to scratch his head violently.

Witnessing such sight, Furihata couldn’t help but worry.

“Takao,” Furihata whispered to his friend who was in the middle of writing his own assignment with letters that seemed to get bigger at every stroke of his quill.

“Hmm?” Takao lazily answered without lifting his head from his parchment.

“Takao, look,” Furihata nudged his friend again, forcing him to look up.

Takao finally looked up, his line of sight immediately following the direction Furihata was pointing at.

Takao squinted his eyes, “That guy’s head must be very itchy,” he commented.

”Obviously,” Furihata replied sarcastically.

Furihata stood up and began walking towards Himuro, who thankfully no longer scratching his head violently now.

“Hey, where are you going?” Takao asked. Though confused, he decided to follow Furihata anyway.

“Himuro-kun,” Furihata called his Slytherin friend gently.

Himuro, whose face was still on the table, visibly flinched. Probably taken by surprise by the fact that someone actually chose this moment to interact with him, when he was at such state. He slowly raised his head, took a deep breath in an attempt to compose himself, and turned his head towards Furihata.

“Yes?” He asked weakly.

Furihata sat at the chair beside Himuro and urged Takao to do the same. Takao then went to the chair on the other side of Himuro and sat there. Furihata and Takao then began to introduce themselves.

Himuro just nodded, “I know who you are. I don’t talk and interact with others much but I remember everyone from our year,” he smiled slightly, “do you need anything from me?”

Furihata answered, “Actually, um… I’ve been wondering that... maybe you are the one who needs something right now.”

Himuro didn’t respond to that.

Furihata continued, “You see, you bumped into me earlier, and you seemed to be in distress, and I just...” he trailed off, not sure if it was okay to ask his next question.

“So... it was you, I’m sorry about that then, Furihata-kun,” Himuro gave a little bow.

Furihata waved his hand quickly, “No, no… it’s okay,” he paused. After a second, he decided to ask what had been bothering his mind, “Is there something wrong, Himuro-kun? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

Himuro tensed.

There was this awkward silence that even Takao was not sure how to break for a full five seconds before Himuro finally spoke,

“It seems that I accidentally gave my friend, Kagami Taiga, a love potion.”

Hearing that and forgetting for a moment that they were in the library, Furihata and Takao shouted at the same time, “WHAT?!”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter! But the next chapter is already halfway written so it would be posted soon after this.. hopefully. This chapter was betaed by the awesome [breedafool](http://breedafool.tumblr.com/). Anyway, there would be some tweaks to the original canon rules here and there from now on, you know, for the sake of the plot. I apologize if you're not comfortable with that.

“Sorry... sorry,” Furihata mumbled and bowed his head repeatedly to everyone in his vicinity who gave him a dirty look for being loud in the library.

Well, that shout of his (and Takao’s, though he didn’t seem to care) was pretty embarrassing. But to be fair, could anyone really blamed him? Someone accidentally drinking a love potion was a big deal... right? So his and Takao’s reaction was understandable. After making sure no eyes were on him anymore, Furihata’s focus was back on Himuro. He made sure to speak more softly this time,

“Right... so, your friend just drank a love potion and-”

“Accidentally,” Himuro interrupted, “it’s an important detail.”

Furihata nodded, “Accidentally, totally unintentional... got it, and-”

“How could that even happen?” This time it was Takao’s turn to interrupt him. Furihata just sighed.

Himuro was silent for a moment before answering, “I don’t know... I met Taiga earlier today because he wanted to borrow a book. We then chatted for a while, he said he is thirsty and asked for water. He knew I always carry a water bottle with me so, I gave him that, you know, naturally.”

“After he drank the water, he...” Himuro took a deep breath and continued, “he pinned me to the... wall.”

Furihata and Takao looked at each other, not really sure how to react to that.

“He then gave me the–I can’t believe I’m actually saying this–the... heart eyes. The way he looked at me was...” Himuro paused and took a brief glance at Furihata and Takao before he spoke again, “anyway, I noticed something was off and well... I ran.”

“And you think it was because of love potion?” Takao asked.

“Well yeah, because after I ran, he ran after me, and continued to do so every time he saw me, like... like he wanted to pounce on me, you know. It was almost like... he was possessed,” Himuro pinched the bridge of his nose, “I read about the effect of love potion some time ago, and the symptoms matched, hence that conclusion.”

Takao hummed, “Possessed might not be the right term, I think he was _blinded by love_ ,” he nodded to himself.

Furihata grimaced at that remark before he also spoke, “Just to make sure, your friend Kagami Taiga is the one with weird eyebrows? No offense by the way.”

“None taken... yeah that would be him. You guys met him when he ran after me, I presume?” Himuro asked.

Furihata and Takao nodded. 

Himuro sighed, “I definitely took a wrong water bottle at some point–after all, all water bottles in this school look the same–but that means someone’s heart might be broken as we speak right now because they think the love potion doesn’t work on their target,” he paused, “but man... they are about to ruin my friendship with my childhood friend at the same time. What did I do to deserve this?” he frustratedly covered his face with his hands.

Furihata looked sympathetically at his Slytherin friend. He was about to say some comforting words before Takao interrupted him, again.

“I know you're facing a dire situation right now but I can’t help but wonder, what would happen if you were the one who drink the water? Would you fall in love with the owner of the water bottle that contained love potion? But they didn’t give it to you intentionally... so like, does that mean you would fall in love with yourself? How does it work?”

Hearing that, Himuro looked at Takao questioningly.

“While what Takao asked might be thought-provoking, I think it’s best for you to just ignore him, Himuro-kun,” Furihata patted Himuro’s shoulder and smiled, “we’ll help you.”

Furihata then stood up from his chair. He was about to leave when Takao called him,

“Where are you going, Furi?”

“I’m going to retrieve a book, wait a moment,” Furihata said and soon, he disappeared among the bookshelves.

Five minutes later, Furihata returned, a particularly thick book in hand. He sat on his previous chair and proceeded to open the book.

“I already read that,” Himuro said shortly.

Furihata chuckled, “Yeah, I thought as much,” he flipped some pages and skimmed the content until he stopped at a particular section, “ah, there it is.”

“ _Love potions are...”_ Furihata began to read, his eyes roamed the page quickly, “blah blah blah, not important... I don’t care about who found it...” he muttered under his breath until something finally caught his eyes, _“How to get rid of Love Potion’s symptoms.”_

Hearing this, Takao and Himuro’s were suddenly looked alert, though in Himuro’s case he probably already knew what Furihata would say next.

 _“1. The antidote, obviously,”_ Furihata paused his reading as he looked at a list written on the page. He frowned, “I never heard about these ingredients, maybe we should ask Hyuuga-sensei.”

“Been there, done that,” Himuro said mournfully, “Hyuuga-sensei said he doesn’t have those ingredients with him right now.”

“Wait, wait, you told Hyuuga-sensei about this?” Takao looked surprised.

“Yes, but without the right ingredients he said he couldn’t help... why?”

“Wow… ain’t he like... very scary?”

Himuro smiled slightly, “He is, but who else should I turn to? He is also our house’s head, so it’s only logical...” he paused, “he is surprisingly nice outside class.”

Takao’s mouth opened dumbly hearing the word “nice” being associated with his Potions Professor. That guy is ruthless, not nice. Takao got like, minus 30 points from him so far. He shuddered at the thought of someone actually wanted to communicate with him willingly beyond what is deemed necessary.

Himuro saw this inner turmoil that Takao was having and chuckled, “He really isn’t that bad, Takao-kun.”

“Alright so, antidote is not the solution then,” Furihata said, implicitly telling his two companion to focus on the problem again, “ _2\. Turn down the target’s advances until they understand,_ ” he knitted his eyebrows, “really? This seems simple enough.”

Himuro shook his head, “Believe me, it’s not. Taiga didn’t even give me a chance to speak, he always charge... right away.”

Furihata gave Himuro a sympathetic look again, before resuming his reading, “ _3\. Tell the target facts that could potentially be turnoffs._ ”

“Oh! I think that’s a perfect solution,” Takao said cheerfully, “We could make up some embarrassing facts about Himuro and tell Kagami... unless you want to tell us actual embarrassing facts about yourself? So we don’t have to-”

“Takao!” Furihata warned him, “Don’t be absurd. What about Himuro-kun’s image? You-”

“No, it’s alright,” Himuro assured Furihata, “I don’t care about that, I just want Taiga to go back to normal, preferably ASAP.”

From his tone, Furihata noticed that Himuro was getting desperate.

“Great!” Takao rubbed his hands together, suddenly excited, which was very rude, Furihata thought, “First of all, I’m always curious, but this might be the answer we are looking for... your left eye might be a turnoff...” he lifted his hand and actually swept Himuro’s bangs to the side.

“Takao!” Furihata was officially horrified now.

“....” Takao’s eyes widened upon seeing whatever it was that he saw.

“Takao, stop-”

Furihata’s warning was drowned by Takao’s sharp intake of breath.

“Goddamn, you’re even more beautiful with two eyes out in the open,” Takao exclaimed.

Himuro and Furihata were speechless.

Himuro shifted uncomfortably on his seat. Furihata facepalmed and gave him an apologetic look.

Well, that was awkward.

“Left eye was definitely not a turnoff, Furi, we should just tell Kagami that Himuro still wets the bed,” Takao said casually, as if his earlier action was as normal as breathing—which was not!

Himuro looked at Takao in horror, “Please not.”

“But you said-”

“I take back what I said,” Himuro shook his head vigorously.

“That was fast,” Takao commented dryly.

Seeing the exchange, Furihata couldn’t help but laugh a little. Himuro and Takao raised their eyebrows at him but soon began to laugh as well, albeit quietly—they were still in the library after all. They just realized how silly the entire situation actually was.

Furihata was the first one to regain composure. When he spoke, his tone was all business again.

“I think our best option is number 2 after all.”

Himuro frowned, “But I said-”

“I might have an idea,” Furihata interrupted his Slytherin friend and smirked.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was betaed by the awesome [breedafool](http://breedafool.tumblr.com/).

“Alright, before the lesson begins, I want to ask a few questions about our potion of the day. For the first question, I want… Himuro Tatsuya to answer.”

Furihata winced, his plan of helping Himuro hadn’t even begun yet, but the first hurdle was already presenting itself, in the form of his Potions Professor, Hyuuga Junpei.

\---

_Himuro raised his eyebrows at Furihata, “Oh, you have a plan? Do share.”_

_“Well, it’s simple really,” Furihata shrugged, “You just need Kagami to listen to your rejection properly, right? Then, talk to him, but with a barrier between you two.”_

_Himuro gave Furihata a questioning look, “A barrier?”_

_Furihata nodded, “Yeah, something… like a door?”_

_Himuro crossed his arms on his chest and leaned back on his chair, seemed to be considering what Furihata was suggesting. After a while, he nodded to himself, “I see now… you want either Taiga or myself to be inside a room and the other outside, so the conversation is happening with a door separating us.”_

_Furihata nodded again, “Exactly... there’s this empty room near our common room, the door’s not as thick as other rooms too if I recall, so you don’t have to, you know, scream, for the words to be heard on the other side,” Furihata paused, “I think we could use that.”_

_“We could try yeah,” For the first time that day, Himuro sounded hopeful… but then, he frowned, “but how do we convince Taiga to go there?”_

_This time, it was Takao who answered, “Leave it to me!” he pointed his thumb to his chest and grinned._

_Furihata smiled and gave Himuro a thumbs up, silently telling him that this plan would work and after that, there would be nothing for him to worry about anymore._

_Himuro was stunned. Here he was, with two people who couldn’t even be considered his friends, willingly gave him a helping hand when he needed it the most. He didn’t know what to say or do or even feel about the whole situation._

_He supposed he was grateful. Very much so._

_So he said what a grateful people usually say, but rather than speaking the words from his head, he’d like to think that he actually speaks from his heart,_

_“Thank you guys. I really, really appreciate the help.”_

_Hearing that, Furihata and Takao patted his back at the same time._

_“Save it for when the plan actually worked,” Takao said cheerfully._

_Himuro just smiled at that._

_“I do think you need to skip Potions this afternoon though, I don’t think we could execute the plan if Kagami saw you before we could lead him to the empty room... is that okay?” Furihata asked worriedly._

_Himuro hummed, “I’m feeling rebellious today... so yeah I’d skip it,” he grinned._

_Furihata chuckled, “We call you when it’s your turn to act, be ready!”_

_“Roger that,” This time, it was Himuro’s turn to give his two companions an enthusiastic thumbs up._

\---

“Himuro Tatsuya? Is Himuro Tatsuya here or is he skipping my class?” Hyuuga-sensei’s cold voice set Furihata in panic, “I usually don’t care about students skipping my class, as long as I didn’t notice, but since _I knew_ about this one, well... I’d take 20 points from-”

“Sir?”

Furihata’s voice rang through the silent classroom, his hand raised. All eyes were instantly on him. He slowly lowered his hand, purposely taking the time to calm his nerves. He was never good at being the center of attention.

But Himuro (and his own house) was at danger of becoming victims of Hyuuga-sensei’s wrath right now, and he just couldn’t let that happen.

“Yes Furihata? Anything you want to say?” Hyuuga-sensei said, a slight annoyance could be heard in his voice

Furihata swallowed nervously, “Himuro is... ill, Sir,” he lied through his teeth.

“Yeah? What sort of illness? He seemed fine to me when I met him earlier today,” Hyuuga-sensei said, looking straight at Furihata’s eyes, as if challenging him.

“Ah, u-um...”

_Crap._

Furihata cursed himself for stuttering. This was not good. He must think of something, fast.

“Food poisoning-”

“Upset stomach.”

Furihata’s eyes widened at the sudden answer that was coming from his side, being spoken at the same time as his own answer. Talk about Takao and his perfect timing...

Though this time, he was able to recover quickly.

“... which was caused by food poisoning,” Furihata nodded, covering the lie with another lie, which thankfully still made sense (at least that was he thought). He took a chance to take a glance at his professor before regretting his decision (Hyuuga-sensei was totally staring at him!) and lowering his gaze again.

“His stomach is very upset, Sir,” Takao also nodded, more enthusiastically, hoping it could convince Hyuuga-sensei about the lie even more.

Hyuuga-sensei frowned, “Where is he right now? Hospital wing?”

An idea formed in Furihata’s mind suddenly. He almost thank Hyuuga-sensei for his perfect question.

Furihata answered, making sure his voice was loud enough to be heard by the entire class. After all, he needed _someone_ to hear what he was about to say next. His eyes roamed the class, searching for a combination of red eyes, red hair, and weird eyebrows.

“No Sir, Himuro is currently resting at-”

Furihata felt his heart stopped. He found red eyes but it was... the wrong shade. Like it was almost pink. Like... like...

_Magenta._

The color was magenta and they were staring back at him. And at that moment, Furihata started questioning his life’s decisions. Pointless ones like, why was green his favorite color?

Because after making eye contact with Akashi for the first time ever, he realized that his crush’s eye color was the most beautiful one. And It was hypnotizing, this moment. And it was so very perf-

“Furihata?” Hyuuga-sensei called.

Furihata’s attempt at creating a poem from a simple eye contact was interrupted suddenly. He snapped from his daze with a jolt and turned his head to the one who called his name. His heartbeat slowly returned to its normal rhythm.

“Yes?”

“Where is Himuro right now?” Hyuuga-sensei asked again, clearly exasperated.

Furihata bowed his head a bit to his professor, as a gesture of apology for not paying attention, and said, “I believe he is now resting at the common room, Sir.”

He silently prayed no one noticed about how he was a little lost there, because of Akashi’s eyes...

Though to be fair, he found himself not minding it. At all.

Hyuuga-sensei stared at him for another long moment before he finally sighed, “Well, okay if that’s the case. Let’s just continue our lesson. I have so many things I need to explain today and I don’t want to waste anymore time than I already did.”

Furihata breathed a sigh of relief. Hyuuga-sensei seemed to buy his lie. He pushed his thought about magenta eyes and how they affected him to the corner of his mind and returned his focus to the task at hand. He thought about what he just said and hoped the word “common room” actually reached Kagami’s ear.

He looked at Takao who was already smirking at him on his side and found himself mirroring that expression.

First step of the Operation: Rejecting Kagami Taiga was officially _done._

  


* * *

  


Furihata was not surprised to see Kagami rushed to the direction of Slytherin Common Room as soon as Potions Class was dismissed. He was quite surprised however, about the fact that Kagami actually knew the location of his common room. Maybe this is what people called _the power of love_ , he mused.

Furihata and Takao began to follow Kagami. When the Slytherin duo almost reached their destination, they spotted the redhead standing awkwardly in front of their common room. Probably waiting for Himuro to come out... or any Slytherin really, to call his friend for him.

Tough luck though, almost everyone was at the dining hall at the moment, since it was dinner time.

So Furihata and Takao came up to him, trying to be as casual as possible, like they didn’t have a plan to break his heart or anything.

“Excuse me, is there something you need? You’re kinda blocking the door,” Takao asked the redhead.

Kagami saw the two Slytherin and gave them a sheepish smile, “Ah sorry about that,” he hesitated for a moment before continued, “and yes, I need your help actually. Um... you two are first years right? Are you two going to go inside?”

Furihata and Takao nodded.

“Could you tell Himuro Tatsuya, to come outside, if it’s not too much trouble? Tell him a friend is very worried about him and... and um, want to see him very much,” Kagami said, blushing a bit.

“And what is the name of ‘this friend’?” Takao asked nonchalantly.

“Ah... I don’t think it would be necessary, he’ll understand,”

Takao raised his eyebrows at that and commented, “Is that so? What a beautiful friendship you have there,” he then grinned, “alright, I’ll give him your message if I found him inside,” he shifted his attention to Furihata and frowned, “what are you doing, Furi?”

Furihata was rummaging through his bag as if he was looking for something, and said, “I think I left my book at Potions classroom, you go inside first, I’m going to go back and retrieve it.”

Takao just shrugged and processed to go inside the common room.

Kagami saw the brown haired boy walked away but then stopped abruptly in front of a door in the middle of the hallway, he turned around and looked at Kagami, his expression one of... horror?

It was more of a reflex than anything but Kagami approached him instantly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think... I hear a scream from- from there,” Furihata said nervously, his finger pointed at the door in front of him.

Kagami looked at the closed door, confused.

“The voice sounded like Himuro’s.”

It was all it took for Kagami to open the door forcefully. He entered the dark room, not at all cautious, Furihata followed him closely behind.

“Tatsuya!?” Kagami called frantically. He took out his wand and mumbled a spell, and the room was lightened up in an instant.

But it was empty.

Kagami surveyed the entire room one more time but still, there was nothing. He turned around to ask Furihata about the sound again when he noticed something strange.

Furihata was closing the door... and locking it.

When Furihata turned to face Kagami, the redhead was already in front of him, with his wand pointing dangerously at his throat.

“What is the meaning of this?” Kagami almost snarled.

Furihata raised his hands shakily, as a gesture of surrender, and spoke, “Please wa-wait, Kagami-kun... I-”

“Taiga.”

Furihata couldn’t help but thought that Himuro’s voice that came from the other side at this moment was the very definition of ‘saved by the bell’. He breathed a sigh of relief, again, for the second time today. This was it. This was the moment they’ve been waiting for.

Kagami, who also heard Himuro’s voice outside, lowered his wand and reached for the doorknob.

“Do not open the door,” Himuro warned.

The redhead froze for a moment before he managed to ask, “What exactly is happening here, Tatsuya?”

Furihata decided to walk some distance away from Kagami, to give him and Himuro some privacy. He stood still and watched the scene in front of him began to unfold.

“I want to speak to you,” Himuro answered through the door.

“Then let’s do it face to face... literally.”

“I don’t think you can think straight if you see my face.”

Furihata swore he could heard Takao whistled–all the way from the other side–at that cheesy line. He chuckled. Classic Takao.

Though to be fair, he would’ve done the same, had he not known the circumstances.

It turned out, Kagami was a bit stubborn, “How do I know I’m speaking with the real Himuro Tatsuya right now?”

“You have a thing with ponytails, all of your crushes have that,” Himuro answered quickly.

Kagami was silent, a blush started creeping up his cheeks.

Furihata almost choked at that. He wanted to laugh so bad. Oh, how _glorious_.

It was silent for a while, before Himuro started speaking again.

“I’m sorry, Taiga. I love you, you’re like a brother to me, but not in that way. Please understand this,” Himuro said, getting straight to the point.

Kagami’s eyes widened in shock, as if he genuinely didn’t see the rejection coming, at all.

“What are you... what are you saying, Tatsuya?” Kagami looked like he was about to collapse any moment now.

“I don’t love you the same way you love me,” Himuro’s tone was even. Furihata doubted he would be this calm if he saw the state of his friend right now though.

Because after that, Kagami did collapse, and now sitting on the floor, leaning his forehead on the door.

And then, he started to sob.

“Taiga... are you alright?”

Himuro’s concern seemed to have the opposite effect on Kagami, because his sobs were getting even louder.

Furihata knew it was all love potion doing, but he couldn’t help feeling sorry for the redhead. It must be really painful, to be rejected by someone you love so dearly.

He thought about how bad he would crumble if he was in Kagami’s position. He thought about how painful it would be to be rejected by... Akashi, if he ever knew about his feelings.

Because it was exactly what would happen. Because Akashi and Furihata did not belong in the same world... and they never will.

An image of bloody hands and scared eyes flashed through Furihata’s mind. He suddenly found himself out of breath.

_Calm down._

Furihata closed his eyes and tried to breath normally.

_Calm down._

The image slowly disappeared from his mind and his breathing returned to its normal pattern again.

 _It was nothing_ , Furihata told himself. He opened his eyes, trying to wipe out whatever just happened from his mind completely.

Furihata sighed. He grabbed his tie and tried to loosen it, in an attempt to distract himself.

Then, he saw Kagami, now standing up and facing him. He realized the redhead was no longer crying, his tears and snots were still present but his expression was one of legit confusion.

Furihata just stared at him. And waited.

And then, Kagami’s expression changed to one of absolute horror.

“Oh my- what have I- what the hell?!” He gasped, his memory slowly returning.

Furihata found what he just witnessed very amusing and couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. He walked up to the redhead and smiled.

“Welcome back, Kagami-kun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Five chapters in and the dorks finally made eye contact [throws confetti]. This is an amazing development y'all.


End file.
